{"id":254128,"date":"2026-10-13T12:28:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T16:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=254128"},"modified":"2026-10-13T13:44:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T17:44:02","slug":"suhitha-sreedhar-co-founder-of-the-thrift-den-to-represent-school-of-business-at-u-n-climate-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/10\/suhitha-sreedhar-co-founder-of-the-thrift-den-to-represent-school-of-business-at-u-n-climate-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Suhitha Sreedhar, Co-Founder of the Thrift Den, to Represent School of Business at U.N. Climate Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Representatives from around the world will descend upon Antalya, Turkey, next month to discuss one of the most complex and important issues facing our world\u2014climate change.<\/p>\n

Suhitha Sreedhar<\/strong>, a senior in the School of Business, will get a front-row seat to those conversations. She is one of the UConn delegates who will attend the United Nation\u2019s Conference of Parties (COP), an annual symposium held this year from Nov. 9 to 20.<\/p>\n

Sreedhar, a management major with a minor in social responsibility and impact in business, is excited for the trip, seeing this as a culmination of her work at UConn and a boost to her future aspirations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dream is to run a company that creates responsible supply chains for fashion companies all over the world,\u2019\u2019 Sreedhar said. \u201cI grew up in a culture that didn\u2019t have a focus on recycling or sustainability, so it has become my mission.\u201d <\/p>\n

During Monsoon Season, It Barely Rained<\/h2>\n

Growing up in Andhra Pradesh in southern India, gave her a first-hand look at how failing to acknowledge climate change can have devastating effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in India, most people try to pretend like climate change isn\u2019t real, and don\u2019t invest in even the simplest of things, like recycling,\u201d Sreedhar said. \u201cThis summer I went back for monsoon season, and it barely even rained. As a large producer of crops, it was devastating for the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sreedhar\u2019s parents were a big influence on her worldview. Her mother and father both run organizations that provide needed social services to her community. Their example has led Sreedhar to find ways to give back.<\/p>\n

One of her proudest accomplishments has been launching and running UConn\u2019s Thrift Den<\/a> with seven other students. Originally known as the Swap Shop, Sreedhar and her co-founders continued the thrift-store tradition in the basement of the Family Studies building, but with a twist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only rule is you take one item per week. When you\u2019re obligated to take [only] one item, you\u2019re forced to think if it\u2019s something you really, really want,\u201d Sreedhar said. And that contemplation also leads to less overconsumption and a more sustainable lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Student Has Impressed Many With Intelligence, Enthusiasm<\/h2>\n

All this work has caught the attention of many people across UConn, including Arminda Kamphausen, Director for Global & Sustainability Initiatives and the GE Global Learning Center in the School of Business. Kamphausen got to know Sreedhar well when she applied for a London study-abroad scholarship.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Kamphausen sees a bright path for Sreedhar, and is especially impressed by her strong principles and her involvement across UConn. <\/p>\n

\u201cSuhitha will be successful at whatever she puts her mind to. I personally know she has impressed faculty, academic advisors, staff, and fellow students with her intelligence, enthusiasm, kindness and commitment to giving 100 percent,\u2019\u2019 she said. Her drive is strong, whether completing an internship in London, running programs for the Office of Sustainability, or mentoring fellow students through the Undergraduate programs advising office, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an international student she has made engaging in experiential learning at UConn a huge priority and continues to reap the benefits of these real-world experiences,\u201d Kamphausen said.
\nAnd even though Sreedhar is graduating next year, she\u2019s taking in the moments that will create lifelong memories and reflecting on her time at UConn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think at this moment in time, to be able to go to COP and to say I have done this, it is all because of UConn,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of amazing professors and mentors. Every time I felt lost here, even if they couldn\u2019t help me, they always pointed me to a person who could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eli Freund is a freelance writer for the School of Business.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI grew up in a culture that didn\u2019t have a focus on recycling or sustainability, so it has become my mission.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":254131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2668,1862],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2110],"class_list":["post-254128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-institute-enviro-energy","category-busn"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-20 14:42:21","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254132,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254128\/revisions\/254132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/254131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254128"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=254128"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=254128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}